The Washington critic., 1887-06-25
VOW. wnAr IL a connlnArlori :

restraint upon commerce, Is II not Oti-mcant
for that purpose-to prevent competition, Is
II not 2 Competition is the very thing of all
Others to BE- secured In commerce. That Is
the life Of commeroe-that every man shall
have tair chance TO carry as Cheaply rs he
can, and TO have his goods carried MS choaply
as they can 10. Combination between rail
roads brings the best and most efficient rail.
road down TO the level Of the poorest, where
they agree upon rates, doesn't IT. What Is
this provision In this law OF yours against
pooling, except to provide for competitions
No man In his senses but knows that combl-
nation Is always for the purpose of keeping
up rates, and composition Is always for bring
ing down prices. Combination Is always In
favor Of the carrier; competition Is always In
favor OF the shippee, or the one carried Lat
doctrine Of our fathers and am not at all
afraid In what say Of running against any
principle found In your llonor's (Judge
Cooley'sl book, which Is, with me, q rae
my brother, Judge Shellabarger, on that
point. and with tho decision Of Judge Brad
ley. But let us look at history a moment.
Putting II In the charter originally was done
under the wisdom Of our fathers. looking to
competition, but In ignorance of the difference
that must come in the manner OF operating
railroads. They put clause In the charter
of the original railroad that every man might
put on his own engine, and that other cars
should be put on By any body who chose, and
uH tnat. lnnt was IN
TnE INTEREST OF COMPETITION.
They knew the old stage.coach rule, and
knew that without II rates would go up until
they became rulnous to traffic. TO prevent
that, that feature was admitted. agree that
at this day 1t is utterly impossible to carry 1t
out with railroads. agree that II is utterly
impossible TO allow people TO run their own
trains on the railroads as matters are now
mn md ayda l,n a.l.,a n
But how have We tried ever since to secure
competition by making every railroad take
from every other railroad, and from everybody
else, ON the same terms-never less, never
more, equal terms-all cars, all merchandise,
and haul u themselves In their own way, con
sistont with safety
Now, our car docs not interfere with that
Mt all. IL goes on the road, In company with
other cars. We do not go there TO manage
that car any more than amy other shipper goes
TO manage common car. The shipper goes
not to manage the running of that car any
more than the shipper goes TO manage the
running of common car. Both go to see
that their animals are fed. or ought to do so,
The whole i running Of that car is as much
pany as the engine hltched to 1t, or as any
other ear In that train, just as much. And
that ends the whole argument, that you must
not put 1t on because we cannot Interfere
with the agencies with which they do their
work. We agree TO that.
The agency that was talked about In the
NOlOruuO anu tne htCHlsOn, IOpeKu anu Sduth
Fe case was an agency of q Joint union, and
what Is said there In the point of the decision
does not touch this matter at all. We do not
ask any union; We did not ask them TO let us
do anything about IT, We may never see that
car We, the Burton Cattle Company, may
never see the car from one years end 10 an
other. II goes to Chicago and comes back to
Portland, and then returns TO Chicago, IL
may be, over the Grand Trunk, aud then
takes itself out TO Nebraska, or to Las Vegas
or any proper point and brings back another
load. How can It be said with shadow of
truth, and without the man who said it
blushing, that the Burton car interferes with
the management OF railroads! 1t does not at
all The car Is there and we put SO many
animals into II. and pay the freight, Just ac.
cording to what the car carries, and no
more.
l think they ought not to make the car the
unit of freight. l think there ought to be
some other unit OF freight. But that is
AVERY DIFFICULT QUESTION
to go into, because 1t may cost more to carry
half car Of freight, under some circum-
stances, than whole one. hope, however,
the Commission will some time establish a
unit Of freight exactly and precisely.
There is nothing In this argument, respect
fully submit, that we are asking you to inter.
ferc. We do not ask you to interfere, or to
give MS any more control over the car than is
other railroad operating these i!5.c00 or I50,-
| eco miles of road-they both go aud grow so
fast can't keep up. with tlem-but for the
no mSte no les ahasr ssesanay
And not only that, sir, for there is business
enough for us all, We want every other com.
| petipg .party's car that is u proper one al
| lowed to go on railroads. We have been
| taunted here that we want our patent put on.
Pardon me, haven't I, from the beginning,
| asked that every mans feeding. watering
tie humaney, shall be allowed to 20 on the
| road under circumstances substantially ike
all other carsy We are seeking to set up no
monopoly; We do not ask Of anybody any mo.
| our circular was sent out Offering to let any
company, for Si5 q year per car. make. as
| many cars as they chose. one Discrimination
Of 500 miles will pay twice that royalty, Will
| II notY And then they may bring 1t down Just
| as low as they please. II they bring down the
rate then We, the patcntccs, can bring down
| our rates. l agree that we have to charge too
high now. Why Because every now and
| then we have to pay back freight charges us
| you have seen. because we are just beginning
and have not full run yet. We are like tho
| telegraph. When II started the rates We're
| very high; but since II got in full operation
| the rates have become very low; and as soon
as ever the rates are open to us we can then
bring down our fricos, and you Will be doing
| est of public health and In the interest OF the
| commerce Of this country. That Is exactly
the proposition that Is before you, no other
and no more.
| 'LSu uiDtSh piCCuO Q
argument OF cattle shipped East, and said
that Mr.. G. had quoted statistics concerning
| hogs instead Of cattle. This Mr.. Greene de-
MED, and a little discussion ensued.
| Now section of the Interstate Commerce
| Act says:
| "All charges made for any service
rendered or 10 be rendered In the transporta-
tion of passengers or property AS aforesaid
| or In connection herewith. or for the recelv-
| ing, delivering, storage or handling OF such
| property, shall be reasonable and just, and
| every unjust and unreasonable charge for
such service is prohibited and declared to be
And Of that you are to Iulse--not the rail
| roads, not a convention of railroads You
| are TO Judge whether these charges put uyon
| us are unjust or not.
| 'sec. g That II any common carrier, sab
recty or indirectly, by any special rebate
| rate, drawback or other device demand, CO.!
lect or receive from any person or persons a
greater or less compensation ior any service
| tion Of persons or property, subject to the
provisions of this act, than II charges de
mands, collects or receives from my othsl
person or persons doing for hun or thena hIt
and contemrOrancous service In tho trans
| portation Of like kind OF traiiic under sab
stantiaily, similar circumstances aud ,conti
tlons such common carrier shall be deemed
guilty of unjust discrimination, which Is
hereby prohibited and declared to be unlaw
full
That gets the common carrier into trouble
| not us. If the common carrier makes dis
elimination section declares that discrmini
tion unjust.
now WILL YOU DIsCRININATE'
In the first place they say they will not hnu
our car. That Is one discrimination. That i
the express claim OF the Union Paci6c-thl
they will not haul; that they have an ,eXclu
sive property in their tracks across the Grca
Desert. May 1t please Your llonors, they d,
rot set up the fact that they can carry lum
bcr in their ears 80 icOt long, two piles u
lumber each 10 feet long sareas0n' why the
wi not do, II. They have very diaoten
freight back.
But they take the bull by the horns. NJ
brother, shclabarger, always docs that. II
says: I'VE won't let II go On our track; W
won't have IL there We think that Is
slight discrimination, may 1t please You
Honors. 1hen We come to section 3, whic
| declares: